Fire-engine



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(Modem B1. J.- G. HOWE. FIRE ENGINE.y

No. 244,131. Patented July 12,188'1,

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B. J. C. HOWE.

FIRE ENGINE. No. 244,131. Patented July 12,1881.

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B. J. 0. HOWB. FIRE ENGINE.

No. 244,131. Patented July 12,1881.

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No. 244,131. Patentedauly 12,1881..

UNITI-:D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN J. C. HOWE, OF SYRACUSE, ASSIGNOR TO EZEKIEL B; HOYT, OF SKANEATELES, AND HENRY J. HOWE, OF SYRAOUSE, .NEW YORK.

FIRE-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION ,forming part of Letters Patent No. 244,131, dated July 12, 1881. Application filed December 29, 1880. (Model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, BENJAMIN J. C. Howie,

a citizen of the United States, residing` at Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Engines 5 and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or gures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention is in the nature of improvements in horse-power tire-engines; and the invention consists in the peculiar construction, arrangement, and combination of pumps and their operating mechanism, as hereinafter specied and claimed, whereby a simple, effective, and cheap tire-engine is produced, suitable alike for the purposes of extinguishing confiagrations and of pumping` water.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, in the several figures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure lis a top-plan view of my apparatus. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof with the near wheels removed. Fig. 3 is a horizontal longitudinal section, looking upward from below, showing the timing of the pump-pistons to insure a continuous flow or discharge. Fig. 4 is a central vertical section of the pumps. Fig. 5 is a bottom view of the pumps with the lower waterchamber removed, and Fig. 6 is an inner face view of the lower water-chamber removed.

I wish to state at the outset that I am not the rst to arrange a number of co-operating pumps in a fire-enginewhose pistons are driven by a cam-wheel or by an arrangement of gearing operated by horse-power.

My invention is designed to V simplify and improve this old construction; and to this Vend I employa frame composed of horizontal longitudinal beams a, having cross-pieces 'b and c and wheel-supporting trucks d.

To the cross-pieces c are suitably bolted the pumps e, and connected with the pumps, or formed thereon, is a tubular upright projection, f, (see Fig. 4,) turned true, andservin g as a bearing or axle to receive the hub of the toothed pump-driving Wheel g and for attachvment of the air-chamber h. The driving-wheel `g is adapted to receive the polei of the engine, which may be used to attach the horses used in drawing the engine, for the purpose of driving the pumps when in operation. To the crosspieces b are secured in suitable boxes the shafts j 7c of pinions- Z fm, which pinions mesh with the teeth 0f the'driving-wheel g, to be driven thereby. On the lower ends of these .shaftsj 7c are secured cranks or disks n o respectively, to which are attached links p q, which receive the piston-rods r s, and through the media of these wheels or gears, disks, links, and piston-rods the pumps are operated.

Two or more pumps are employed, in accordance with the desired capacity of the engine; and I prefer to use double-acting pumps, as illustrated in Fig. 4.

In the drawings I have shown an arrangement of three co-operating pumps, consisting of three cylinders, t, bolted between waterchambers a o, each cylinder communicating with each chamber at opposite ends by means of the four flap-valves fw. These cylinders are provided with heads t', forming water-ways for the valve at opposite ends, between which heads the pistons a: on the piston-rods r s work.

y is the inlet, arranged in the lower waterchamber, u, and z is the outlet or discharge, connected y with the upper Water-chamber, o. The water-chambers are made to register with the pum p-cylinders and accuratelyiitted thereto by means of holes a in the former, which receive pins b on the latter.

In the operation of my engine the apparatus is suitably braced against movement, as by brace-rods or grapples engaging stakes or the earth, or otherwise, and rotary motion being imparted to the Wheel g, it is communicated to the pinions l m, shafts j k, and disks or cranks 'n o, thereby reciprocating the piston-rods r s and the pistons, and causing the inflow and discharge of water through the pumps. The links of the piston-rods are so arranged upon their disks or cranks, or the rotation of such disks or cranks is relatively such, that no two of the pistons will be moving in relatively the same path at the same time. (See Fig. 3.) In other words, each piston will be in a different position from the others with relation to its deadcenter throughout its stroke, so that the individual actions of the pumps will be collec- I tively such as to insure a continuous inflow and discharge, and hence the action of the apparatus will be unremittin g.

This engine may also be worked by handpower suitably applied to the wheel g.

The pumps are arranged about midway of the frame, and hence their weight and that of the driving-wheel above them is better` sustained, the apparatus more easily drawn, and the symmetry preserved.

Each of the pum p-cylinders is in communication with the two water-chambers, but not with each other, and the individual action of the pumps is aggregated in the constant supply of the inlet-chamber u and the supply and discharge of the outlet or discharge chamber fv.

What I claim is- 1. The improved fire-engine described, composed of the horizontal frame et b c, two or more connected (zo-operating pumps, c, supported thereupon, the driving wheel g, supported above the pumps upon the axle f, rising from said pumps, the pinions Z m, meshing with said driving-wheel, the pinion-shafts j k, disks or cranks n o thereon, and connections for operating the pump-pistons, substantially as de.

rin place by the air-chamber It, substantially as described.

3. The longitudinal beams a, supported upon suitable wheeled trucks and having the crosspieces b c, to support the operative parts of a fire-engine, in combination with the pumps ot' such engine nested together about midway of said beams, and the driving-wheel arranged above and having its axle upon said pumps, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses. v Y

BENJAMIN J. C. HOWE. Witnesses:

GEO. B. WARNER, W. B. RANDALL. 

